Portajohnny: The Best of Angry Youth Comix: The Early Years

A side-splitting collection of comix you've gotta read to believe. Johnny Ryan is one funny mofo, and easily the most underrated cartoonist working today. This is a great look at his earlier work, which has all the spirit of the classic, crazy lowbrow undergrounds. The guy counts Pete Bagge, Dan Clowes, the producers of the Simpsons and even political-oriented cartoonist Joe Sacco among his fans-- he must be doing something right!

These comix are sick! I love them. Boston bred Johnny Ryan is like the Sex Pistols of comix. It's like he just lets this stuff out and it splatters across the page, disgusting mothers everywhere. Violent, scatological, angry, and very very funny! No children should ever read this book. Like the Sex Pistols (in '77), it's not for everyone, which is why I gave it four stars and not five. The comics were taken from long out-of -print, self-published comics in Ryan's "Angry Youth Comix" series.His main character is the quintessential "Angry Youth" Loady McGee, an acne faced little punk loser whose malicious grossness always seems to propell the plots of these stories forward. Sinus O'Gynus, his wimpy, goggles wearing friend, actually has a job, a car, and an apartment, which gives Loady something to threaten and destroy. I am tempted to describe some scenes in the book, but I am afraid they will be censored or will scare readers away. Let's just say that body parts are severed (to little or no reaction from the characters), bodily waste is hurled or heaped in mounds, and obscenities pour off the pages. The art reminds me of tighter, more cohesive, slightly less insane Boiled Angel (Mike Diana).Maybe it doesn't sound funny, but it will have the you rolling on the floor if you like Rick Altergott's 'Doofus," Ivan Brunetti's "Haw!" or Tony Millionaire's "Maakies" collections. I had to keep saying to friends, "Read this page! Now read this one!" So now I say it to you- Read this one!Introduction by Peter Bagge.